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Re: Conferences

#21

Post by unbannable »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #17
unbannable wrote: post #2

Invitation-only events don't belong in the technological scene. There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Nerds are supposed to be…

There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Sounds suspiciously like Marxism. People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, wh…

People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, while the struggling guy at the bottom is the good guy.

It's not that simple. There are people who have both wealth/connections and talent. There are good guys who are well-connected and wealthy.

The moral battleground is the exchange rate between these two fundamental commodities. Talent should trade very high against property, but often it doesn't. The good guys are those who are trying to make the exchange rate proper; the bad guys believe the talented exist only to serve those who are already powerful. So powerful people who use their resources to advance those who are talented are among the good guys.

Re: Conferences

#22

Post by c3o »

wannabetechgeek wrote: post #12

Timely for me as I'm missing TWTRCON (which costs $600!), but following the Twitter stream as I write this. Yup, conferences are great for networking especially for newbies like myself who don't have existing contacts in the industry. The best way for newbies to go about it though is to find all the free or inexpensive conferences available, or offer to volunteer. At least in the Bay Area, there's no shortage of oppo…

You can also just go hang out in the lobby for free at most of them -- if you don't care for the talks, that's just as good.

Re: Conferences

#23

Post by netsp »

unbannable wrote: post #21
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Sounds suspiciously like Marxism. People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, wh…

People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, while the struggling guy at the bottom is the good guy. It's not that simple. There are people who have both wealth/connections and talent. There are good guys who are well-connected and wealthy. The moral battleground is the exchange rate between these two fundamental commodities. Talent should trade very high against property, but often it doesn't. The good guys…

Should?

Re: Conferences

#24

Post by theBobMcCormick »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #17
unbannable wrote: post #2

Invitation-only events don't belong in the technological scene. There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Nerds are supposed to be…

There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Sounds suspiciously like Marxism. People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, wh…

Can we all just let go of the ridiculous cold-war era brain washing?

Claiming an idea is invalid because it "sounds suspiciously like (Marxism/Communism/Socialism/etc)" is an ad hominem. It's flawed thinking, a logical fallacy. When you do it, you're not effectively supporting your argument you're just revealing your own intellectual shallowness.

Re: Conferences

#25

Post by ryanwaggoner »

unbannable wrote: post #21
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Sounds suspiciously like Marxism. People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, wh…

People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, while the struggling guy at the bottom is the good guy. It's not that simple. There are people who have both wealth/connections and talent. There are good guys who are well-connected and wealthy. The moral battleground is the exchange rate between these two fundamental commodities. Talent should trade very high against property, but often it doesn't. The good guys…

Yeah, it's not that simple. That's my whole point.

Also, can you provide some objective basis for the statement that talent should trade very high against "property"?

Re: Conferences

#26

Post by unbannable »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #25
unbannable wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, while the struggling guy at the bottom is the good guy. It's not that simple. There are people who have both wealth/connections and talent. There are good guys who are well-connected and wealthy. The moral battleground is the exchange rate between these two fundamental commodities. Talent should trade very high against property, but often it doesn't. The good guys…

Yeah, it's not that simple. That's my whole point. Also, can you provide some objective basis for the statement that talent should trade very high against "property"?

Those who want talent to trade highly against property are those who believe the best and most capable should be making the big decisions. They have the interest of humanity-at-large at heart.

Those who want the reverse are those who have power but lack talent, and their supporters.

Re: Conferences

#28

Post by kscaldef »

ankhmoop wrote: post #16
alain94040 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a huge difference between watching the talks and actually being there. 50% of the value is the content of the talks, which supposedly described the latest and greatest. Just like in academia, the talks are actually dated: they have been prepared months before and don't really represent the latest . To know the latest, you need to chat with various people to find out what they are working on right now, that t…

Given that the talks are canned, and the materials they are based on are almost always published, why should I pay for a conference when I can already leverage existing networking/social channels to stay in touch with the latest ?

It's hard to go out for a beer with someone who isn't in the same place that you are. And people will definitely tell you stuff over a beer or two that they won't write about in their blog.

Re: Conferences

#29

Post by ryanwaggoner »

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #24
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an all-out, bitter war going on between property (connections, inherited wealth, resources) and energy (talent, ambition, hard work). One is past, one is future, and each wishes to demote the value of the other. One side has power but lacks the vision and talent to use it; the other has the capability but not the means. Sounds suspiciously like Marxism. People with wealth and connections are the bad guys, wh…

Can we all just let go of the ridiculous cold-war era brain washing? Claiming an idea is invalid because it "sounds suspiciously like (Marxism/Communism/Socialism/etc)" is an ad hominem. It's flawed thinking, a logical fallacy. When you do it, you're not effectively supporting your argument you're just revealing your own intellectual shallowness.

first, I did support my argument. second, I don't feel the need to disprove the same thing over and over. some theories are just wrong, and labeling them as such is not an ad hominem attack. do you feel the need to have an entire debate every time someone makes a case for young earth creationism. in my mind Marxism and YEC have about the same level of validity, which has been proven over and over; I feel no need to do so again.

that's just my opinion, and if you disagree, fine. but don't have a knee jerk reaction and assume that because I labelled something Marxist means I'm intellectually shallow.

Re: Conferences

#30

Post by jf »

menloparkbum wrote: post #13
mellis wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Invitation-only events are not only for people with "property". They also allow those with "energy" to keep an event from being diluted by those without it. Why shouldn't a group of hackers be able to get together with people they choose? Wouldn't the YC weekly dinners fit this category?

I'm obviously a fan of HN and by proxy, YC... but to be a devil's advocate... The people at the HN weekly meeting didn't choose to get together with each other, the rich guys who gave them money chose them and told them to be there. In contrast, superhappydevhouse is open to anyone who shows up.

As one of the organizers for superhappydevhouse, one of my main goals is to keep it from ever becoming an invitation only event. I share a lot of sentiment that Fred Wilson expressed in his blog post.

As superhappydevhouse has grown in popularity and size, this has made finding venues more difficult, we've been extremely fortunate and have had many generous people open their homes and businesses to us.

The "dilution" issue that mellis mentions above has also been a concern, fortunately this hasn't been a difficult issue to address. All that we've needed to do so far is to explicitly state what sort of event we are holding ("A party for hackers and thinkers") as well as discouraging corporate self-promotion and recruiting.

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